The military junta in Burkina Faso has arrested eight members of INSO, a Netherlands-based NGO, on charges of espionage and treason.
The detainees include three European nationals: one French, one Franco-Senegalese, and one Czech. The other five are from Mali and Burkina Faso.
According to Security Minister Mahamadou Sana, the group is accused of collecting and sharing sensitive information with foreign powers, allegedly endangering Burkina Faso’s security.
INSO, which provides humanitarian organisations with safety analyses, was described by Sana as a “foreign NGO led by foreigners” that supplied sensitive information to external entities.
The junta, in power for nearly three years, has distanced itself from Western nations, particularly France, as part of its broader governance shift.
